Perseid Meteor Shower Intensifies

 

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The Perseid meteor shower is intensifying as Earth moves deeper into the debris stream of parent comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. International observers are reporting as many as 30 Perseids per hour from dark sky sites, a rate which could triple on August 12-13 when the shower peaks.

You can listen to the Perseid meteor shower on Space Weather Radio, which is monitoring signals from the USAF Space Surveillance Radar.  Every Perseid that flies over the radar makes an audible ping.  Hear the echoes here.

Perseid Meteor Shower

From Space Weather

Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Worldwide observers are now reporting more than 30 Perseids per hour, a number that could triple during the weekend when Earth reaches the heart of the debris zone. Forecasters recommend looking during the dark hours before dawn, especially Sunday morning, August 12th, when activity is expected to be highest.

Enjoy the skies tonight!

Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight

From Space Weather:

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway. Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere--flash!--there is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August 12th, and Friday, August 13th. You can see Perseids flitting across the sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn.

Tune into spaceweather for full coverage of the shower, including a live meteor radar, a "fireball cam," updated meteor counts and pictures from around the world.

BONUS: If you go outside a little early on Thursday evening, around sunset, you'll see a beautiful gathering of planets in the sunset sky--Venus, Mars, Saturn and the crescent Moon. It's a nice way to start a meteor watch. Sky maps may be found at SpaceWeather.

I am told that this year is one of the best, which explains why we are heavily overcast this year.  Because of that I offer this video of the Meteor Shower as a consolation to those in my circumstances.  ENJOY!

Perseids Start Tonight!

THEY ARE BACK! BIGGER AND BRIGHTER THAN EVER!!

THE PERSEIDS!!!

The Perseid meteor shower is about to peak. The show begins after sunset on Tuesday, August 11th, and continues until the sun rises on Wednesday, August 12th. A time of particular interest is 0800-0900 GMT (1-2 a.m. PDT) on the 12th. That's when Earth is expected to pass through a denser-than-usual filament of dust from Perseid parent Comet Swift-Tuttle. Forecasters are unsure what will happen, but some have speculated that meteor rates could surge as high as 200 per hour. Bright moonlight will blot out many of those Perseids, but even a fraction of 200 is a good show.

For the last 3 years I've had either dense cloud cover and/or thunderstorms. But the forcast for tonight is clear (keeping my fingers crossed). So I hope to have good "seeing".

You can find out more about the Perseids at Space Weather or at NASA.

Enjoy the show tonight. It is suppose to be the best one ever!

Best Perseids Ever!

It is being predicted that the Perseid Meteor Shower, starting on August 11, and ending on August 16, will be the best Perseid ever!

POSSIBLE PERSEID METEOR OUTBURST: This year's Perseid meteor shower could be even better than usual. According to NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, a filament of comet dust has drifted across Earth's path and when Earth passes through it, sometime between 0800 and 0900 UT (1 - 2 am PDT) on August 12th, the Perseid meteor rate could surge to twice its normal value.

You can find out more information on the Perseids and other Space phenomena at Space Weather. A valuable source for Space news and alerts.

Catch a Falling Star, The August Perseid Meteor Shower

Remember to keep watching the skies.

Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so called because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. Meteor showers occur when the Earth moves through a meteor stream. The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it passed by the Sun. Most of the dust in the cloud today is approximately a thousand years old. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that boiled off the comet in 1862. The approximate rate of meteors originating from this filament is much higher than normal.

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks on on Tuesday, August 12th. The best time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday morning when forecasters expect 50 to 100 meteors per hour. Get away from city lights if you can; plan a camping trip! The darker the sky, the more meteors you will see.

If you can get away from the city lights and it is a clear night, you will experience an annual event that is spectacular. I was fortunate to witness the Perseids a few years ago in the Mojave Dessert by doing nothing more than sitting on a lawn chair and looking up at the sky. It was amazing.




Time Lapse of the Perseid Meteor Shower

You can find out more about the Perseid Meteor Shower and other space phenomenon at SpaceWeather.